On May 10, 1869, two steam locomotives chugged across a barren landscape
in northern Utah until they stood nose-to-nose. A crowd converged, and
within minutes the event was frozen in time as one of the most familiar
images of the American West. The competing arms of the transcontinental
railroad had been joined at Promontory Summit in the Utah territory.

But just beyond the photographic images of East meeting West in Utah
is a more controversial story: A little known story of the people
who built the final stretch of the rail line; of hard fought negotiations
between railroad executives and the legendary Brigham Young; of broken
promises that created economic chaos and destroyed lives.

PROMONTORY is the first television documentary to explore the convulsive
events that played out in Utah before and after the momentous Golden Spike
Ceremony that signaled the completion of the world's first transcontinental
railroad. Produced by KUED Senior Producer Ken Verdoia, PROMONTORY offers
a seldom seen glimpse behind the scenes of an event that redefined the
American experience and would forever change the Utah experience.

Drawing on private letters, diaries and public records of the day, PROMONTORY
takes viewers inside the cutthroat competition between the Union Pacific
and the Central Pacific railroad companies as they raced across the American
continent. Fueled by a unique partnership with the federal government,
the private railroad companies were awarded government money and land grants
for every mile of track they completed. The financial incentive inspired
a sometimes wild dash of men and rail lines that converged on the nation's
most isolated population center.

The Utah territory of the 1860s was a little known, often controversial,
religious settlement in the nation's heartland. Virtually all events
in the territory played out under the watchful eye of Mormon Church President
Brigham Young, who exercised a unique blend of religious, political, social
and economic power. When the Union Pacific wanted laborers, Vice President
Thomas Durrant turned to Brigham Young, who saw Durrant's proposal for
a Mormon labor force as a way to bring jobs and prosperity to his people
following the economic devastation wreaked by the grasshopper plague.

A. J. Russell, Stereoview #27. Mormons working on the West End of Tunnel No. 3, Weber Cañon.

PROMONTORY details how Brigham Young would never see the sums Union
Pacific and Central Pacific promised him and his followers. He was so angry
at the railroads that he was conspicuously absent from ceremonies in which
the final spike was driven. When the dust had settled, Young claimed to
be owed more than $1 million, but he could not budge railroad executives
who ignored Mormon demands for payment.

In addition to the economic disappointments came unforeseen cultural
repercussions. As the railroads brought in outside culture and the country
pushed West, Utah's 60,000 Mormon settlers found themselves viewed with
curiosity and suspicion and their quiet haven threatened by alcohol, prostitution,
gambling and other "corrupting viruses." Within a decade, the state's
population would double, bringing an influx of non-Mormon residents.

"For most of us, the transcontinental railroad is little more than two
images: A.J. Russell's great photograph of the two locomotives meeting
at Promontory Summit, and the oft-told story of the driving of the golden
spike," says producer Verdoia. "But, just beyond those images is an entirely
different saga of an incredible national enterprise and its enormous impact
on the Utah Territory. Unearthing that little-known story is what drives
Promontory, a film that offers powerful lessons still relevant 130 years
later."

PROMONTORY was funded by the R. Harold Burton Foundation and The George
S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.